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Oceania
Oceania Oceania (UK /ˌoʊʃɪˈɑːniə, ˌoʊsɪ-/1 or US /ˌoʊʃiːˈæniə/),2 also knownas Oceanica,3 is a region centred on the islands of the tropicalPacific Ocean.4 Opinions of what constitutes Oceania rangefrom its three subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, andPolynesia5 to, more broadly, the entire insular region betweenAsia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.6 The term is sometimes used more specifically todenote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands,78910 or biogeographically as a synonym for either theAustralasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacificecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart eitherfrom New Zealand11 or from mainland New Guinea).12 Etymology The term was coined as Océanie ca. 1812 by geographerConrad Malte-Brun.6 The word Océanie is a French languageword derived from the Greek word ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), ocean. Definitions See also: List of Oceanian countries by population and List ofsovereign states and dependent territories in Oceania Map of Oceania As an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and allof Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands,Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separateAustralasian ecozone. In geopolitical terms, however, NewZealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia arealmost always considered part of Oceania, and Australia andPapua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania too.Sometimes Papua province in Indonesia may be included, asPuncak Jaya is often considered the highest peak in Oceania. Physiography Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the PacificOcean, stretching from the Straits of Malacca to the coast of theAmericas. It comprised four regions: Polynesia, Micronesia,Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago), and Melanesia(now called Australasia).13 Included are parts of threegeological continents, Eurasia, Australia, and Zealandia, aswell the non-continental volcanic islands of the Philippines,Wallacea, and the open Pacific. It extends to Sumatra in thewest, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands inthe northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east,and Macquarie Island in the south, but excludes Taiwan, theJapanese Archipelago (including the Ryukyu Islands), andAleutian Islands of the margins of Asia.1415 The states that occupy Oceania that are not included ingeopolitical Oceania are Indonesia, Malaysia (throughMalaysian Borneo), Brunei, the Philippines, and East Timor.The islands of the geographic extremes are politically integralparts of Japan (Bonin), the United States (Hawaii), and Chile(Rapa Nui, formerly Easter Island). A smaller geographicdefinition also exists, which excludes the land on the Sunda Plate, but includes Indonesian New Guinea as part of theAustralian continent. Biogeography Aoraki / Mount Cook, located onthe South Island of New Zealand Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either theAustralasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacificecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart eitherfrom New Zealand11 or from mainland New Guinea12). Ecogeography Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute themajor ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozoneincludes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except NewZealand. New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji,and Australia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone. TheMalay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone. Relatedto these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western IslandMelanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, andRemote Oceania, which is more recently settled.16 Geopolitics In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations,International Olympic Committee, and many atlases, Oceaniaincludes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from PapuaNew Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or IndonesianNew Guinea.171819 Other definitions * The term is often used to denote a continent comprisingAustralia and proximate islands.78910 * New Zealand forms the south-western corner of thePolynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one ofthe major cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however,considered part of Australasia.17 * The widest definition of Oceania includes the entire regionbetween continental Asia and the Americas, therebyincluding islands in the Pacific Rim such as the JapaneseArchipelago, Taiwan, and the Aleutian islands.20 Satellite image of Oceania Ethno-cultural definition of Oceania An orthographic projection of the Pacific Oceanshowing much of Oceania. Economic zones of the Pacific, outlining Oceania. History See History of Oceania, History of the Pacific Islands Demographics Oceania Wider Geographic Oceania. Little of the South Pacific is apparentat this scale, though Hawaii is justvisible near the eastern horizon. Narrower Geographic Oceania. Island Melanesia, Micronesia, andPolynesia (apart from New Zealand) The demographic table below shows the subregions andcountries of geopolitical Oceania.17 The countries andterritories in this table are categorized according to the schemefor geographic subregions used by the United Nations. Theinformation shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles;where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated.These territories and regions are subject to various additionalcategorisations, of course, depending on the source andpurpose of each description. Geographic map of islands of Oceania Religion The predominant religion in Oceania is Christianity.29Traditional religions are often animist and prevalent amongtraditional tribes is the belief in spirits (masalai in Tok Pisin)representing natural forces.30 In recent Australian and NewZealand censuses, large proportions of the population say theybelong to "No religion" (which includes atheism, agnosticism,Secular Humanism, and rationalism). In Tonga, everyday life isheavily influenced by Polynesian traditions and especially bythe Christian faith. The Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata,Samoa is one of seven designations administered in the Baha'ifaith. Sport Pacific Games The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South PacificGames) is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics on a muchsmaller scale, with participation exclusively from countriesaround the Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963.Australia and New Zealand do not compete at the Pacific Games. Association football (soccer) The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of sixassociation football confederations31 under the auspices ofFIFA, the international governing body of the sport. The OFC isthe only confederation without an automatic qualification to theWorld Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC qualificationtournament must play off against an Asian confederation side toqualify for the World Cup.3233 Currently, Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call football(soccer) its national sport. Oceania has been represented at four World Cup finalstournaments — Australia in 1974, 2006 and 2010, and New Zealand in 1982 and 2010. In 2006, Australia joined the AsianFootball Confederation and qualified for the 2010 World cup asan Asian entrant. New Zealand qualified through the OceaniaConfederation, winning its playoff against Bahrain. 2010 was thefirst time two countries from Oceania had qualified at the sametime, albeit through different confederations. Australian rules football Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru34 and isthe most popular football code in Australia in terms ofattendance.35 It has a large following in Papua New Guinea,where it is the second most popular sport after Rugby League.36 Cricket Fans welcome to the Australian team afterwinning 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricket is a popular summer sport in Australia and New Zealand.Australia had ruled International cricket as the number one teamfor more than a decade, and have won four Cricket World Cupsand have been runner-up for two times, making them the mostsuccessful cricket team. New Zealand is also considered astrong competitor in the sport, with the New Zealand CricketTeam, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in manycompetitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are Full membersof the ICC. Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are some of theAssociate/Affiliate members of the ICC from Oceania that aregoverned by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Beach Cricket, a greatlysimplified variant of cricket played on a sand beach, is also apopular recreational sport in Australia. Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania.The Boxing Day Test is very popular in Australia, conductedevery year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne. Rugby League Rugby league is a popular sport throughout Oceania, and is thenational sport of Papua New Guinea37 (the second mostpopulous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popularin Australia38 and attracts significant attention across NewZealand and the Pacific Islands.39 Australia and New Zealand are two of the most successful sidesin the world.40 Australia has won the Rugby League World Cupa record nine times while New Zealand won their first World Cupin 2008. Australia hosted the second tournament in 1957.Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted it in 1968 and 1977.New Zealand hosted the final for the first time in 1985 – 1988tournament and Australia hosted the last tournament in 2008. Rugby Union Fiji playing the Cook Islands at seven-a-side rugby Rugby union is one of the region's most prominent sports,41and is the national sport of New Zealand,42 Samoa,42 Fiji andTonga.42 Fiji's sevens team is one of the most successful in theworld, as is New Zealand's. New Zealand and Australia have won the Rugby World Cup arecord two times (tied with South Africa who have also won it twotimes). New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987.Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the World Cup in 1987.Australia hosted it in 2003 and New Zealand hosted it in 2011. See also Notes # ^''' Pronunciation: The New Oxford Dictionary of English(1998) ISBN 0-19-861263-X — p.1282 "'''Oceania /ˌəʊsɪˈɑːnɪə, -ʃɪ-/". # ^''' "Oceania". Dictionary.com. Random House, Inc. 2012. # '''^ ""Oceanica" definition". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved2 April 2013. # ^''' For a history of the term, see Douglas & Ballard (2008)Foreign bodies: Oceania and the science of race 1750–1940 # '''^ "Oceania". 2005. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.Columbia University Press. # ^ a'' ''b "Oceania". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.).Oxford University Press. September 2005. # ^ a'' ''b Philip's E.A.E.P Atlas. 2003. p. 79. # ^ a'' ''b Scholastic Atlas of the World. 2003. "Oceania is thesmallest of all the continents" # ^ a'' ''b Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings, United Nations StatisticsDivision. Revised August 28, 2007. Accessed on lineOctober 11, 2007. # ^ a'' ''b Lewis, Martin W.; Kären E. Wigen (1997). The Myth ofContinents: a Critique of Metageography. Berkeley:University of California Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-520-20742-4,ISBN 0-520-20743-2. "Interestingly enough, the answera scholar who sought to calculate the number ofcontinents conformed almost precisely to theconventional list: North America, South America, Europe,Asia, Oceania (Australia plus New Zealand), Africa, andAntarctica." # ^ a'' ''b Udvardy. 1975. A classification of thebiogeographical provinces of the world # ^ a'' ''b Steadman. 2006. Extinction & biogeography oftropical Pacific birds # ^''' D'Urville, Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont; Isabel Ollivier,Antoine de Biran, and Geoffrey Clark. "On the Islands of the Great Ocean". The Journal of Pacific History (Taylor &Francis, Ltd.) '''38 (2). # ^''' MacKay (1864, 1885) Elements of Modern Geography,p 283 # '''^ Douglas & Ballard (2008) Foreign bodies: Oceania andthe science of race 1750–1940 # ^''' Ben Finney, The Other One-Third of the Globe, Journalof World History, Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall, 1994. # ^ ''a'' ''b'' ''c'' "United Nations Statistics Division – Countries of Oceania". Millenniumindicators.un.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # '''^ Atlas of Canada Web Master (2004-08-17). "The Atlas of Canada – The World – Continents". Atlas.nrcan.gc.ca.Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' Current IOC members. # '''^ "Oceania". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26. # ^''' Regions and constituents as per UNcategorisations/map except notes 2–3, 6. Depending ondefinitions, various territories cited below (notes 3, 5–7, 9)may be in one or both of Oceania and Asia or North America. # '''^ The use and scope of this term varies. The UNdesignation for this subregion is "Australia and NewZealand." # ^''' New Zealand is often considered part of Polynesiarather than Australasia. # ^ ''a'' ''b'' Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands areAustralian external territories in the Indian Oceansouthwest of Indonesia. # '''^ Excludes parts of Indonesia, island territories inSoutheast Asia (UN region) frequently reckoned in thisregion. # ^''' Papua New Guinea is often considered part ofAustralasia and Melanesia. It is sometimes included inthe Malay Archipelago of Southeast Asia. # '''^ On 7 October 2006, government officials moved theiroffices in the former capital of Koror to Melekeok, located20 km (12 mi) northeast of Koror on Babelthuap Island. # ^''' Fagatogo is the seat of government of American Samoa. # '''^ US Dept of State (2012-05-01). "Background Notes Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Malaysia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Samoa". State.gov. Retrieved 2012-07-14. # ^''' Cowan, James G. (1993). Messengers of the Gods. NewYork, NY: Bell Tower. ISBN 0-517-88078-4. # '''^ "FIFA confederations". Fifa.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' "FIFA world cup 2010 – Oceania preliminary competition" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-26. # '''^ "FIFA world cup 2010 – qualifying rounds and places available by confederation". Fifa.com. 2009-04-03.Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' "Nauru AFL team to play in International Cup".solomonstarnews.com. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # '''^ "Australian rules football (sport) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' # '''^ "MSN Groups Closure Notice". Groups.msn.com.2008-10-23. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' "Football in Australia – Australia's Culture Portal".Cultureandrecreation.gov.au. 2008-03-28. Retrieved2009-04-17. # '''^ "Rugby League Football – 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand". Teara.govt.nz. 1908-06-13. Retrieved 2009-04-17. # ^''' Wilson, Andy (2009-11-05). "southern hemisphere sides are a class apart". London: guardian.co.uk.Retrieved 2010-06-17. # '''^ "Oceania Rugby Vacations". Real Travel. Retrieved2009-04-17. # ^ a'' ''b c "How many national sports are there".WikiAnswers. Retrieved 2009-04-17. Category:World Updates Category:People